1. Program Planning: Community Nutrition Assessment

2. Program Planning Basics
Systematic process
Continual feedback and evaluation
Cyclical: based on increasing understandings of the true nature of the situation and the effectiveness of interventions.
Starts with an assessment of the current situation

3. Why Do Assessment?

4. Community Nutrition Assessment:
Anchors interventions in the reality of the community
Essential part of ongoing process:
Needs assessment
Designing and implementing interventions
Evaluation
Feedback for improvement
Includes community and stakeholders as fully active participants

5. Community Nutrition Assessment:
Based on assets more than deficits
Helps to integrate nutrition programs into community-based institutions and initiatives

6. Successful Community Assessment Includes:
Understanding current conditions of families, individuals, institutions & policies
Evaluating local capacities for supporting change
Building community support for implementing changes

7. Models and Protocols for Community Assessment
Planned Approaches to Community Health (PATCH) – CDC
Assessment Protocol for Excellence in Public Health (APEXPH) – NACHO (National Association of County Health Officials)
Moving to the Future: Developing Community Based Nutrition Services – ASTPHND (Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors)

8. Strategic Planning for Initiatives to Address Local Health Efforts
Organize a community planning group
Define community boundaries
Gather information
Statistical profile
Qualitative data
Community Resources & Environments
Policies
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

9. Strategic Planning, cont.
Analyze Information
Common issues
High risk individuals
Unmet needs
Prioritize
Develop and implement plan
Monitor and evaluate plan

10. Community Nutrition Planning Group: Responsibilities
Collect data and information
Identify needs and gaps
Set priorities
Develop a plan
Help to implement interventions
Assist in evaluation
Of assessment, planning, and intervention process
Of impact of intervention

11. Community Nutrition Planning Group: Potential Members
Community leaders & advocates
Consumers
Health and nutrition service providers
Health organizations
Schools
Political office holders or their staff
Fitness, Parks & Rec professionals
Representatives from greater community health planning groups
Food systems representatives

12. Community Description
Geographic boundaries
General history
Key people and leaders
Demographics
Financial & economic information
Important issues
Morale and involvement levels
Key allies and rivals
Unspoken rules and norms
Attitudes and opinions
Strengths and shortcomings

13. Identify Community Assets
Physical structure, place, business
Concerned citizens
History of successful efforts
Organizations
Individual and group skills
Communications systems
Relationships

14. Identify Perceived Needs
WHY?
To understand public opinion
To become aware of needs the planning group doesn’t know about
To gather support & expand group expertise
To make decisions about priorities
To plan programs in ways that will be acceptable to stakeholders

15. How do we assess perceived needs?
Listening sessions
Public forums
Key informant interviews
Needs assessment survey or survey of concerns

16. Demographic Profile
Economic status: income, employment, % below poverty
Education levels
Age and gender
Race & ethnicity
Social factors: homelessness, immigration status, family composition, TANF utilization

17. Community Health Status
Causes of Mortality
Hospital discharge data
Disease prevalence data
Food bourne illness reports
Years of potential life lost
Infant mortality

18. Community Nutritional Status
Pregnancy related:
weight gain in pregnancy
Pre-pregnancy weight
Anemia
Disease prevalence: HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, diabetes
Activity levels (BRFSS)
Food intake: fat, fruits & vegetables (BRFSS)
Dental health
Food/dieting related behaviors (YRBS)
Food Security (BRFSS)

19. Community Nutrition Resources
Food assistance programs (WIC, SNAP, summer feeding programs for school children, etc.)
Educational programs
Media
Professional and non-profit organizations
Nutrition counseling

20. Community Food Resources
Grocery stores with high quality produce
Food service with health promoting food options
Farmers’ Markets
Vegetable gardens
Community Supported Agriculture
Supports for growing local foods

21. Community Resources & Service Utilization
What resources are available?
To what extent are people using them?
Sources of Information:
Citizens
Service providers
Tools
Existing data
Interviews
Surveys

22. Criteria for defining/prioritizing community problems
Frequency
Duration
Scope or range
Severity
Perceptions
Root causes (“but why?”) & ability to impact root causes (effectiveness of interventions)
Barriers to resolutions
Political and financial support

23. Group Work: Develop Problem List
Brainstorm nutrition related issues & problems that arise from these data
Choose 5 issues that are of interest to all stakeholders
Prioritize these issues using criteria in these slides
Establish the one issue or problem that all stakeholders will be comfortable working on for the next two weeks